Hermann



(No Model.)

H. G. LUTZ.

PIANO TUNING PIN.

No. 3661782. Patented ul 19', 1887'.

N. PETERS Pboitrlitmgnphcr, Walhinglom D. 0

in this example of my invention.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

'HERMANN G. LUTZ, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

PIANO TUNlNG-PIN.

FPECIPICATION farming part of Letters Patent No. 366,782, dated July 19, l 887.

Application filed May 16, 1857. Serial No. 288,325.

5 Improvement in Piano-Fortes, of which the following is a specification.

The most ordinary means for securing the strings in pianos is to have the strings severally wound upon tuning-pins, which are inserted IO in the wrest-plank, and can be turned to wind the strings more or less upon them; but according to another method of securing strings each string is secured in a plug or bloclgwhich is fitted to slide loose in a screw-threaded hole 1 in the wrest-plank, and which is forced in by a screw-threaded pin fitting the thread of said hole.

My invention relates tda novel means of securing a string in a plug or block, which is forced inward by the screw-threaded tuningpin; and the invention consists in a combination, with the strings of a piano, of a wrestplank having screw-threaded holes grooved lengthwise, tuning-pins screwed into said holes,

and plugs or blocks on which said pins bear,

sliding in said holes, and which are perforated transversely for the strings and provided in their ends with set-screws to bear upon a transverse portion of the string and aid in secur- 0 ing the string in said plug or block.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a transverse section of a portion, of an iron frame and wrest-plank, showing my improved tuning attachments for the strings. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation upon a very much e11- larged scale, showing a portion of the wrestplank and three tuningpins,-t0gether with the strings; and Fig. 3 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 2 and upon the same scale, one of the 0 said holes being empty or destitute of its pin.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A designates the metal frame; A, the wrestplank, which forms an integral part thereof B designates the strings, each of which is secured upon a pin, I), in the string'plate, which forms a part of 'the frame, and the end of which is secured in the wrest-plank A by a tuning-pin, 5o .0. The strings B may be carried over a bar or rib, 11, upon the frame and under a suita- In the wrest-plank A are formed ble rail, 11

(No model.)

- a proper number of screw-threaded holes, 0,

and the pins G, which are made of metal, are screwed snugly into these holes. I have likewise represented a block or plug, 0, in which the wire B is directly secured, and which slides freely in the hole 0 in advance of the pin. In this example of my invention the plug or block 0 has a permanent swivelconnection with the pin 0, so that when the pin is turned the plug will not be turned,but'will simply be advanced into the hole 0.

As here represented, the plug or block 0 is permanently attached by a swivel-connection to the end of thepin O, and I have shown the end portion of the pin as reduced in diameter at c and formed with a'cireumferential groove, 0 and the plug or block Gis tubular and slid over the neck 0 and swiveled thereon by a key, 0 inserted through the tubular plug or block, andon which the neck or portion of reduced diameter 0 of the pin 0 may be freely turned. C by being passed transversely one or more times through perforations extending transversely of the plug, and by ascrew, s, inserted in the end of the plug or block 0, and bearing upon a transverse portion of the string, as best shown in the case of the right-hand pin and plug 0 O in Fig. 2. By this means the string is very securely fixed in the plug or block, and danger of breaking is avoided. As shown, the screw 5 bears directly upon the lower transverse portion, b, of the string, and the upper transverse portion, b, is also passed through the plug or block, and in order to prevent a sharp angle in the string at the surface of the wrest-plank, which would be liable to produce fracture, each string passes over a block or saddle, which has a short stem, 1), whereby it is held in place in asuitable hole in the wrestplank.

In order to accommodate the portions of the string B which project beyond the periphery of the tuning-pins O and of the plug or block 0, I have represented the hole 0 in the wrestplank A as grooved lengthwise on opposite sides or at diametrically-opposite points, as represented at c". The plug or block 0 is held against turning by the portion of the string entering the grooves c, and hence as the pin 0 is turnedin one direction or the other the plug or block 0 will be advanced in the The string B is secured to the plug hole 0, or will be retracted if it be desired to remove the string.

As best seen in Fig. 3, it will be seen that the string B does not exert its strain upon the pin 0 in a tangential direction, butin a plane which passes through the axis of the pin 0, and hence the stringB has no tendency to turn the pin 0 and become slack and out of tune.

XVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with the strings of a piano, of awrest-plank having screw-threaded holes grooved lengthwise, thetuning-pins O,serewed H. O. LUTZ.

\Vitnesses:

G. HALL, HENRY J McBRInE. 

